C&A is a multinational chain of retail clothing stores that originated in the Netherlands. It now has European head offices in Vilvoorde, Belgium, and Düsseldorf, Germany. The company operates approximately 1,300 stores in Europe and approximately 300 stores in Brazil, as well as websites for online shopping. It also licenses the C&A name for stores in Mexico and China, which are under different ownership.^[3] C&A's brands include Angelo Litrico, Avanti, Clockhouse, Here+There, Palomino, Rodeo (ski and snowboard clothes), Westbury, Yessica, Yessica Pure, and Your Sixth Sense.

The company name is derived from the initials of its founders, Clemens (1818–1902) and August (1819–1892) Brenninkmeijer. The Brenninkmeijer family owns C&A through a Swiss firm named COFRA Holding AG. The company's success has led the Brenninkmeijer family to be ranked among the wealthiest in the Netherlands, but most members of the family actually live in Geneva and Zug, Switzerland.^[4]

The Brenninkmeyer family had traded in linen and textiles since the 17th century from Mettingen, Germany. In 1841, a Dutch textile firm was founded in Sneek by brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer, later taking its company name from the initials of the founders. The family was very secretive, in part to avoid customs scrutiny, and upon reaching age 14, male members of the family were given the choice of working for C&A or joining the Catholic priesthood. In 1906, Clemens' son, Bernard Joseph, started operating in Amsterdam. By 1910, there were ten C&A stores in the Netherlands.^[5]

In 1974, C&A was one of the sponsors of the 1974 FIFA World Cup. In 1978, C&A sponsored cycling through Eddy Merckx's team, taking over from Fiat France.

In 2000, due to competition from Tesco and Asda, as well as from expanding high street names such as H&M, Zara and Topshop, C&A announced its withdrawal from the British market, where it had been operating since 1922, had 109 stores,^[6][7] and had used the name C&A Modes.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]} The last UK retail stores closed in 2001.^[14][15] Primark bought six C&A stores.^[16]

In June 2009, C&A withdrew from the Argentinian market.^[17]

In the summer of 2010, Beyoncé released a clothing line, House of Deréon, in cooperation with C&A.^[18]

In May and June 2017, the company closed four stores in the Netherlands due to poor sales.^[19]

In February 2020, Grupo Axo agreed to buy C&A Mexico,^[20] but canceled the contract in March 2021. In June 2023 C&A Mexico was sold to Grupo Alfra, owner of the Mexican Cuidado con el Perro stores.^[21]

On 20 August 2020, C&A sold C&A China to Zhongke Tongrong Private Equity to operate the stores via franchising.^[22]

In 2021 and 2022, the company closed 70 stores and stated the goal of having half of its sales come from online channels by 2026.^[23]

In March 2022, the company shut its Canda brand, which produced formalwear, due to the decline in sales as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[24][25]

In June 2022, C&A began selling clothing via Amazon.^[26][27]

In July 2022, it was discovered that C&A's Serbian division was the victim of customs fraud on the import of goods from China. The unpaid duties led to the Serbian division filing bankruptcy and closing its 14 stores.^[28][29]

In December 2021, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights filed a criminal complaint in a Dutch court against C&A and other brands, including Lidl and Hugo Boss, alleging that they benefited from and were complicit in the use of forced labour by Uyghurs in Xinjiang.^[30]

The Specials referenced C&A in "Man at C&A" on the 1980 album More Specials. The phrase "Man at C&A" was later used to typify someone who was unfashionable.^[7][31][32]

In an episode of the sitcom Only Fools and Horses, Del Boy tells his brother Rodney that when they become millionaires, their clothes will "come from Man at C&A".^[32]

The Belle and Sebastian song "Expectations" features a character who is given the choice between working at Debenhams and C&A "cause that's what they expect".^[33]

C&A has stores in the following countries. Figures are for June 2023^[34] except China (May 2023) and Brazil (December 2023).